A Novel Nairovirus Associated with Acute Febrile Illness in Hokkaido, Japan

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Sep 21

PMID 34545081

Citations 29

Authors

Fumihiro Kodama

Hiroki Yamaguchi

Eunsil Park

Kango Tatemoto

Mariko Sashika

Ryo Nakao

Yurino Terauchi

Keita Mizuma

Yasuko Orba

Hiroaki Kariwa

Katsuro Hagiwara

Katsunori Okazaki

Akiko Goto

Rika Komagome

Masahiro Miyoshi

Takuya Ito

Kimiaki Yamano

Kentaro Yoshii

Chiaki Funaki

Mariko Ishizuka

Asako Shigeno

Yukari Itakura

Lesley Bell-Sakyi

Shunji Edagawa

Atsushi Nagasaka

Yoshihiro Sakoda

Hirofumi Sawa

Ken Maeda

Masayuki Saijo

Keita Matsuno

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The increasing burden of tick-borne orthonairovirus infections, such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, is becoming a global concern for public health. In the present study, we identify a novel orthonairovirus, designated Yezo virus (YEZV), from two patients showing acute febrile illness with thrombocytopenia and leukopenia after tick bite in Hokkaido, Japan, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. YEZV is phylogenetically grouped with Sulina virus detected in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Romania. YEZV infection has been confirmed in seven patients from 2014-2020, four of whom were co-infected with Borrelia spp. Antibodies to YEZV are found in wild deer and raccoons, and YEZV RNAs have been detected in ticks from Hokkaido. In this work, we demonstrate that YEZV is highly likely to be the causative pathogen of febrile illness, representing the first report of an endemic infection associated with an orthonairovirus potentially transmitted by ticks in Japan.

Citing Articles

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PMID: 39772118 PMC: 11680321. DOI: 10.3390/v16121807.

Characteristics of viral ovarian tumor domain protease from two emerging orthonairoviruses and identification of Yezo virus human infections in northeastern China as early as 2012.

Chen Z, Zhang J, He P, Xiong T, Zhu D, Zhu W J Virol. 2025; 99(2):e0172724.

PMID: 39745436 PMC: 11852922. DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01727-24.

Isolation and characterization of Iwanai Valley virus, a new tick-borne nairovirus from Ixodes ovatus ticks in Hokkaido, Japan.

Matsumura R, Kobayashi D, Yamauchi T, Park E, Nishino A, Maeda K Arch Virol. 2024; 170(1):23.

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Metatranscriptomic analysis reveals the diversity of RNA viruses in ticks in Inner Mongolia, China.

Su S, Cui M, Xing L, Gao R, Mu L, Hong M PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2024; 18(12):e0012706.

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Transboundary Movement of Yezo Virus via Ticks on Migratory Birds, Japan, 2020-2021.

Nishino A, Tatemoto K, Ishijima K, Inoue Y, Park E, Yamamoto T Emerg Infect Dis. 2024; 30(12):2674-2678.

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